Weeds and other pests are an eternal problem for farmers. Only last November, then Minister for Agriculture, Dugald Saunders announced the use of drones to detect and spray weeds across parts of the western plains, as a result of months of wet weather.

He also announced the release of 10,000 St John’s Wort beetles in the region to target the problem weed of the same name.

“We’ve deployed thousands of these beetles from Bathurst to Wellington, Coonabarabran and Gilgandra to combat outbreaks of that problem weed across the region,” Mr Saunders said.

Fast forward almost a year, and it's now the dry weather contributing to the rising cost for producers to control weeds, along with other pests.

 Current estimates suggest the annual costs of damage by these invasive species is approximately $25 billion nationwide, with the cost to NSW Agriculture $2 billion every year.

According to the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES), 85 per cent of land managers spent on average of $21,950 on pest and weed species management last year, an increase of more than $6000. Problems caused by feral animals such as foxes, mice, pigs and deer had increased, while there was also a small but meaningful increase in reports of weed related problems on properties since 2019.

Craig Mitchell from the NSW Farmers Conservation and Resource Management Committee recently said the burden of dealing with pest weeds and animals could be reduced if all landowners and managers did the right thing.

“We’re looking at another shocking summer ahead with hot, dry conditions already here and a huge amount of weeds drying out on the ground, while feral animals compete with livestock and native animals for food and water,” Mr Mitchell said.

“The frustrating thing for farmers is that we see public lands locked up and mismanaged, or we see absentee landowners fail to control pests and weeds, and it provides these breeding grounds that makes the problem worse every year.

“This puts increasing pressures on the production of food and fibre while our losses to invasive species are increasing, and that’s ultimately going to have impacts far beyond the farm gate.”

In response, Minister for Agriculture Tara Moriarty said the Government knows there is an increasing risk to agricultural productivity by invasive pest animals and weeds.

“This Government is delivering on our election commitments to take the fight to invasive pests and weeds – including undertaking this review, establishing an Independent Biosecurity Commissioner and directing $10 million towards a Good Neighbour Program to tackle pest and weeds," Ms Moriarty said. “We are committed to ensuring that this Government is doing everything we can to support our farmers and communities in managing infestations.”